Haunting Impressions: A Free! Ghoulish Night
by Chino Kusannagi
Summary: Halloween Special. Makoto was supposed to go to a Harvest Festival with the Iwatobi boys but circumstances led him to joining Rin, Seijuuro, and Ai instead. It turns out to be a Haunted Halloween attraction & it's too late for Makoto to back out now. It will be a night they'll all remember whether they want to or not.
1. Two to Three Then Four

**Author's Note:** _Some of the events in Chapters 2-5 are inspired by the places & things that I did with my friends pre-Halloween this year. This story is for them._

**_The story starts with Rin, Seijuuro, & Aiichiro meeting someone unexpected at the bus stop & they recruit this person to join them on their Halloween adventure._**

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><p><span><strong>Haunting Impressions: <em>A Free! Ghoulish Night<em>**

_Chapter 1: Two to Three Then Four_

It was a mildly cold evening in October when two of the Samezuka boys decided to go and check out one of the many Halloween themed attractions that were popping up around the area. Soon the group grew to three as the youngest member refused to be left behind and the older boys had a soft spot for this particular kouhai. Grabbing their coats and packing some things in a bag, they headed out to the nearest bus stop that included their destination along the route.

Upon reaching the bus stop the boys saw someone was already there, half asleep on the bench and leaning against the wall of the bus shelter.

"Do you think we should wake him up Rin-sempai? He could get sick if it gets colder out. And who knows how long he has been out here already."

"Not our problem. And didn't your mother ever tell you to stay away from strangers?"

"It's one guy Matsuoka, what's the harm? He looks around our age anyway. Maybe he was going to meet some friends at the same place we're going to."

"If you want to wake him up Captain be my guest."

"Uhh …. Rin-sempai …."

"What is it Nitori?"

"I know it's kind of dark and all but don't we know this person from somewhere?"

"Hhmm?"

"Hey, I think the little guy is right," Captain Mikoshiba said now that he was closer to the sleeping teen.

Rin moved closer and took a position in front of the person that looked like he was about to play leapfrog. From this height and angle he could get a clear view of the face under the hood of a lightweight jacket.

"Nitori, flashlight," Rin commanded.

Ai handed over the requested object and watched as Rin shined the light just above the person's eyes so as not to blind them should they wake up.

"Makoto? What the hell is he doing out here by himself? Shouldn't Haru and the others be with him?"

"Didn't you say something about the Iwatobi guys and Gou-kun going somewhere tonight? That's what gave you the idea to go find something to do, right?" Seijuro commented, obviously not having heard Rin's mumblings over Ai's nervous chattering just behind him.

"Hey! Captain Tachibana wake up already," Mikoshiba yelled as he lightly kicked the boy's leg.

Makoto woke up with a start. "Huh, what? ….. Aaahhhh!"

The Iwatobi Captain almost fell off the bench because he wasn't expecting to wake up to find Rin Matsuoka's face eerily illuminated so close to his. Actually, in his half-awake state he hadn't recognized it was his old teammate. All he registered was sharp teeth, blood red hair, and eyes reflecting their owner was annoyed.

"Oi, Makoto calm down it's just us," Rin said with annoyance because his Captain made someone scream right in his face. Rin stood and brushed imaginary dirt off his pants as Makoto fully woke up and realized what happened.

"You guys really scared me. Don't ever do that again." Then after a pause he added, "Sorry Rin-chan. I didn't mean to yell in your face."

"It's fine. It's all his fault anyway," Rin said as he gestured toward to the third year standing beside him.

"Way to throw your sempai under the bus Matsuoka," Seijuro teased.

"Keep it up and I just may do that for real," Rin teased back with an evil smirk.

"Uhm, Tachibana-san is Nagisa-san and the others coming to meet you?" Ai cut in before his sempai and Captain could do something they'd regret.

"Actually I was going to meet them. My mom was out and my dad had to stay late at work so I couldn't leave until someone else got home to watch my younger siblings. What time is it anyway?"

Seijuro took out his phone and glanced at the time on the screen. "Almost 7. What time were you supposed to meet them?"

Makoto looked at the Samezuka Captain and his faced paled as he began to panic. "S-s-s-even? I was supposed to be there at 5:45!" He then dug out his own cell phone. "!5 missed calls! Oh no, they must think something had happened to me." Makoto was fully panic stricken now.

"Forget the missed calls. How long have you been out here?" Rin demanded, grabbing hold of his former teammate.

"Makoto turned to look in Rin's face. "Since 5:30-ish ….. " Makoto said weakly.

"5:30! Dammit Mako! Something could have happened to you. Those guys have every right to be freaking out. Not only that it's colder out now. You could have gotten sick!"

"Let me borrow this, OK?" Seijuro asked as he took Makoto's phone from his hand.

While Rin continued to chastise his friend for his foolish behavior, Ai searched through the communal bag the Samezuka boys had brought with them to find which of the extra coats would fit Iwatobi's backstroke specialist. At the same time, Mikoshiba used the borrowed phone to call Gou and let her know what happened. He also took this opportunity to enter Gou's number into his phone. On multiple occasions he had attempted to get from Rin but every time he had refused to comply. Now that the boy was occupied he wasn't about to let this prime opportunity pass him by.

Near the end of the conversation Rin heard his Captain say something that made him stop his rant toward his former teammate. "Did I hear you say 'we're borrowing Mako'?"

"Yep. I figured he came out to go somewhere with friends. So why not bring him along with us since he's too late to meet with his own team."

"Eh?" Rin said as he made an odd, confused, and unamused face at his Captain.

"But I thought this was going to be just us," Ai protested.

"Don't complain. You're a tag-along on this adventure so why not one more? Or do you want to do extra laps during the next practice?" Mikoshiba directed at the youngest boy before turning his attention toward the Iwatobi swim team captain.

"That OK with you? I can schedule an extra joint swim practice for your trouble."

"I guess so, if it's OK with everyone. My team would appreciate another joint practice."

"Then it's decided. Tonight will be a joint adventure of Samezuka and Iwatobi. Oh cut it out with the faces you two. Don't think I don't know you secretly want another joint practice with his team. By the way Tachibana my jacket looks good on you."

Makoto blushed before apologizing. "Sorry about this. Yours is the only one that fit me properly."

"Don't worry about it. I shouldn't need it. I only took it so Nitori would stop whining. Anyway you need it more than I do right now."

"Look everyone the bus is coming!" Ai cried out happily.

A moment later all four boys were boarding the bus. There weren't many people inside so it was easy for the group to sit together. The Samezuka Captain had Ai go through the bag to find the food and drinks and start passing them out. His next decree was for them all to share with Makoto since he was sure the other Captain had not eaten anything before he fell asleep at the bus stop. Makoto thanked them all and promised to pay them back. Seijuro refused, trying to convince the other teen to take a bet on the time trials at the next joint swim practice instead.

When it came time to break into the snacks Rin threatened to bite whoever tried to touch his favorite snack food. Believing Rin would actually follow through with his threat, the boys were glad to see they reached their destination before someone could accidently touch one of the shark boy's snacks. Not that they had anything to worry about since Rin grabbed his snack while the others were busy staring out the bus window at the scarecrows lining the path to the ticket building. He quickly shoved the package in his pocket before everything could be away back in the bag.


	2. We've Arrived

**_In this chapter: Makoto learns he have made the wrong decision in joining the Samezuka boys as the night starts off with zombie pirates._**

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><p><em>Chapter 2: We've Arrived<em>

All four boys piled out of the bus and up the ramp leading into the building where the tickets were sold. Inside the building were generic Halloween decorations mixed with ones indicating it was supposed to be a 'haunted asylum' atmosphere. One of the boys commented on how it was an odd choice of décor given it had nothing to do with the particular event advertised as being at this location. After paying the fee, a worker provided instructions on how to get to the main area and where they could pick up the passes reserving their places on the tour.

It was then it occurred to Makoto he never got around to asking what it was they had come to see and what a tour had to do with Halloween. As they went out the back of the building toward the first information booth (of what would be many), Makoto decided to ask where they were.

"Rin-chan, what is this place and what exactly are we taking a tour of?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't with us when we picked out this place." Rin could have slapped himself for forgetting something so important. "This place is a re-creation of some American town around the 1800's complete with small farms and stuff. With this ticket we get a guided tour of some of the homes and property."

"And they'll tell ghost stories and the haunted history of each place along the way" Seijuro cut in.

"Oh is that all," Makoto said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"The flyer said something about mazes and other activities too. And there's a working apple cider mill on the property. It's not open now because it's too dark but they're supposed to be selling some of the cider out of the saloon looking building. I hope there's some left when we get down there," Ai added happily. His face practically lit up at the prospect of fresh made cider.

The workers at the information booth greeted the boys as Ai continued to rattle on about apple cider and how he couldn't decide whether he liked cold cider or hot cider best. One worker pointed the boys down which path would take them down to the next information booth. All they had to do was follow the paths lined with scarecrows and these urn looking pots with long wicks burning brightly. One side of the path was covered with thick underbrush, bushes, and trees while the other side was an expansive open field. A battery powered lantern light was pulled out of the boys' bag for additional illumination because none of the group felt like twisting their ankle in one of many potholes that was said to be on the path.

They hadn't made much progress when Makoto thought he heard something rustling through the bushes. He was beginning to question his decision to be out in front with Ai.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"Calm down Mako it's probably some animal. Why they start jumping out now when we aren't even near the place yet."

Rin had barely finished his statement when someone did in fact jump out and try to scare them. Makoto froze in place. Ai let one of the girliest screams the group had ever heard. Rin jumped a bit but was glad nobody could see him in the poor lighting. Captain Seijuro put his arm out in front of Rin protectively and went to punch whatever it was but stopped himself just short of the person's face.

"What the hell man?" the man dressed as a scarecrow with a burlap bag for a mask yelled at the Samezuka Captain.

"Sorry. We weren't expecting anyone to jump out so soon so I thought you might be a mugger or something. You OK?"

"I'm fine. Just keep walking already."

"Just to make sure this doesn't happen again, is there anyone I might accidently attack before we reach the booth at the end of the path?"

"No, just me. But there are people who will jump out of the woods during the tour so keep your hands to yourself if you're going on that."

"Thanks for the warning. We are going on the tour. Come on guys let's keep going."

Seijuro started lightly pushing at Makoto and Ai who were still recovering from the scare. As promised, there were no other workers jumping out at them on the rest of the way down the path. When they reached the second information booth, which was located next to a pumpkin patch, the group was given a map of the property.

"If you look that way you'll see the additional attraction area," a female worker started explaining. "The food trucks are on the left. Inflatable bouncers are in the middle. To the right is the lazer tag area. Then along the far side on the right just before you reach the edge of the town is the Pirate Cove Maze."

"There will be actors in the Pirate Maze so I remind you to refrain from trying to touch the actors, their props, or the walls of the maze itself," a male worker continued.

"Yeah, Captain no touching," Rin teased.

"Come on, it was an honest mistake and I didn't touch anything."

"Not for lack of trying," Rin mumbled.

"Heard that, Matsuoka," Seijuro huffed.

"Are you kids going on the tour?" an older male worker asked.

"Y-Yes, sir" Ai stammered.

"Not scared already are you?" the man asked.

"Maybe just a little," Ai replied.

"The corn maze down this path here is free of anyone but patrons if things start to get too scary for your little brother," the old man offered.

"He's not my little brother," Makoto said.

"Sorry, my mistake. I just thought you must be related, the way he's clinging to you."

Makoto hadn't even noticed Ai was holding on to him until the older man had said it.

"Since you boys said you are going on the tour," the female worker interrupted, "You can walk down this path here until you reach the corn maze. The workers there will give you your passes with the time of your tour printed on the front. Depending on what time you have been assigned you will either be leaving right away or have some time to wait. While you are waiting feel free to enjoy the other attraction."

Then the younger male worker added, "and additional food and drinks are available at the bar room. It serves the same function as the saloons from the large Wild West towns. But as this is a recreation of a smaller town more removed from the frontier the scaled down version was built on the property and those are referred to as bar rooms. However the sign on the outside will indicate it as a saloon since there was no differentiation in signage during the period."

"How many information booths does this place have?" Rin said in an unfriendly tone.

The female worker decided to treat this as a serious question and answered, "There are four in total. One to make sure you don't end up heading off into the forest and make it here. A second booth to explain the rules and layout of the activities. The third only handles keep tracking of handing out passes for the tours and making sure the appropriate amount of patrons is assigned to each one. Then a final booth is located in the town at the entrance to the tour to collect the passes and make sure only those who paid for the tour go on it."

"Thank you very much for the information," Makoto said politely to the woman. Then he faced the group and asked "We should go pick up the tour passes, don't you think?"

So the boys walked down the dirt road to the booth with the tour passes. Checking the time of the tour against what time it was right then, they realized they had some time to check out some of the other activities.

"Let's head back a bit and see what the wait is on the lazer tag. It might not be Halloween themed but it should be fun. I've never seen an outdoor set up for lazer tag before," Seijuro suggested.

There was no object so they did just that. The person running the lazer tag told the Samezuka captain that because of the time they were only doing groups of kids right now since they had to leave earlier. Since lazer tag wasn't an option right now the next closest thing was the Pirate's Cove maze.

The maze was an elongated rectangular shape boxed in on three sides. A building made the wall for one of the short sides. A section of uncleared bushes and trees ran along the long back section. A series of stacks of hay bales created the other short end of the rectangle and had a detached section with a scaled down version of the front section of a pirate ship. Patrons had a clear view of the internal structure of the maze from the one long side left open, facing the main field that held the lazer tag, inflatable bouncers, and food trucks. A DJ booth was set up in front of the entrance to the maze and was pumping out Halloween music and creepy sound effects.

As to what the maze itself looked like, it consisted of fences that were no higher than Ai's shoulders which had been thrown together and covered in fake spider webs and spatterings of red paint to simulate blood. There were some taller posts, about twice Rin's height spread out along the different paths where light fixtures were attached. Some of the lights had colored filters on them to make certain areas illuminated in red, green, or blue hues. An odd assortment of strings of lights that looked better suited on a Christmas tree sporadically connected some of the tall posts. Every now and then were signs with different warnings or skeleton had props hung off the fencing. Pirate and other nautical flags of all shapes and sizes were all over the place. Black tarps were draped along the outer most fences and ship ropes laid over them in twisting designs. Some fences had sections of window shutters or large flat squares of wood affixed to them and seemed really out of place. Near the center of the maze was a roped off section holding varying sized coffins with pirate skeletons in tattered clothes. Surrounding the coffin area was an assortment of fake seaweed and vines wrapping around the fence pieces. A fog machine pumped out a thin rolling fog along the back of the maze drifting out toward the coffins. Near the exit the design changed entirely. It became a curved tunnel with a metal frame. On top of and around the frame was a cargo net covered in a semi see through army style camo plastic tarp complete with fake plant life sticking out in random spots. A few more fake vines were dropped on top and wrapped around the frame for extra effect.

Wandering through the maze were three people dressed as zombified pirates. Near the beginning of the maze was an over-weight male with a round face and elaborate captain's hat. Deeper into the maze was a short female pirate with short hair and a fraying bandana dressed as a cabin boy. Right before the exit was yet another, but taller, female pirate, only this one wasn't trying to mask her gender. All three had layers of makeup on their faces and fake blood dripping down. The ones near the beginning and end of the maze had plastic pirate swords while the one in the center was unarmed.

When the boys approached, the organizers were preparing to let the next group of visitors into the maze. Most were teens around their age with a few college aged ones toward the front. Taking up the rear was one young girl was with her father. Seijuro, Rin, Makoto, and Ai walked up and stood behind the child and her father.

"That's max, send them in," a staffer said to the person in charge of the maze gate.

This person stood aside and the group moved in. He then shut the gate behind them. Rin and Seijuro didn't feel this was scary at all but Makoto and Ai were a bit fidgety. A few of the girls in front of them shrieked at the sight of the zombie pirates and the sound got louder and louder as the actors came closer. People started to scatter in all directions, walking or running through the maze. Pirates dragged their swords down the window shutters to make creepy noises. Every once and a while the actors banged on the wood panels startling the visitors. Lights were flashing different colors disorienting people. It didn't take long for Makoto and Ai to get separated from the other two. They became more frantic as they kept going into dead ends and turning around to see zombie pirates up in their faces.

When they got near the end they could hear Seijuro and Rin calling to them to hurry up. Neither boy had noticed the other two get ahead of them. Luckily for Makoto and Ai their friends had decided to wait for them instead of exiting the maze without them. Those two would have just kept going around in circles panicking and looking for Seijuro and Rin otherwise. Once they were all at the tunnel Makoto was ready to get out of there while Ai was afraid to go in. He thought it was the perfect place for one final zombie pirate ambush.

Sensing the youngest male needed an extra incentive to get a move on Seijuro told the group "last one out gets left behind to become a zombie."

Three of the boys took off right away leaving Ai near the back. In order of when they exited was Seijuro, Makoto, Rin, and finally Ai. When Ai exited the maze Rin grabbed hold of one of his arms.

"You're the last one Nitori. Time to make you a zombie."

"What? Rin-sempai where are you taking me? Stop! I don't wanna be a zombie!"

Ai was pulled toward the fence of the maze. Rin motioned to one of the female zombie pirates who came over. He whispered something to her while Ai kept yelling how he didn't want to be left behind with the zombies. The female pirate took out her sword, kissed it, and then lightly bopped Ai on the head with it.

"This one is now cursed and is recognized as part of our doomed crew," the pirate spoke in an eerie voice. "Now be gone and tell all you see of the fate that awaits them inside the maze."

"Huh?" Ai said confusedly.

The pirate hunched over so she was eye level with the little Samezuka swimmer and yelled "I said BE GONE!"

"Yes mam!" Nitori yelled back and sprinted off toward the village.


	3. From Corn Maze to Bonfire

**_In this chapter: The boys kill time by going through a corn maze, get cornered in a haunted Doctor's office, & roast marshmallows around a bonfire while they wait for their tour group to be called._**

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><p><em>Chapter 3: From Corn Maze to Bonfire<em>

As he was running past his Captain caught him by the back of his coat causing the younger boy to jerk backward almost knocking them both to the ground.

Rin couldn't stop laughing as he caught up to the others.

"Not so fast there. No leaving the group behind now," Mikoshiba instructed his kouhai. "Now that we made it out alive let's check out the non-zombie related maze. Rin get ahold of yourself it wasn't that funny."

"Yes it was," Rin contradicted his Captain. He only stopped laughing when he heard Seijuro talking to Makoto.

"You OK over there Tachibana. You don't look so good."

"I'm fine don't worry about me."

Rin looked at Makoto with guilt. "I forgot. You don't like all this haunted and ghost stuff. It scares you doesn't it?"

"Maybe a little ….." Makoto nearly whispered, fidgeting slightly.

"Oh man, why didn't you say something earlier Tachibana. I wouldn't have made you come with us if I'd known," Mikoshiba apologized.

"No it's OK. I should have asked what you were doing before agreeing to come along. I'll manage somehow really, I will."

"If you say so, but I still feel a little bad about all this."

Rin interrupted his Captain before this could become an endless back and forth of apologies. "Let's just forget and go in the corn maze already. There's no monsters or anything in there so those two should be fine."

"We'll go in first and you two follow, but don't try to scare us OK?" Ai said, pulling Makoto to the entrance.

The other two agreed and hung back. Once inside the maze Ai told Makoto how they should hide in the maze and try to scare Rin and Seijuro as payback for scaring them in the Pirate area. Makoto didn't think this would work but agreed for Nitori's sake. He was acting so much like his own younger brother Makoto couldn't help but give in. As expected the plan failed miserably. There wasn't enough corn making up the walls so there were big gaps in between some of the stalks. Ai was wearing lighter colors that reflected all available light streaming into the corn maze and Makoto was too tall to crouch down far enough to get into the shadows.

Seijuro loudly announced he saw them and guessed what they were planning. Makoto gave up and followed Rin out of the maze. Ai was determined to try again only to be scared by his Captain instead. The younger boy was so mad his plan failed that he picked up a fallen corn stalk and started swinging it around wildly like a sword. He managed to hit everyone (including himself accidently) but his Captain. The Samezuka Captain wrestled the corn stalk away from the boy and threw it into the maze narrowly missing another person who was still walking through the maze. To avoid getting in a confrontation with the person the boys ran in the direction of the town buildings to blend in with the crowd.

They stopped in front of a small building with the sign 'Doctor's Office'. Colored lights and strobe lighting effects emanated from the windows. Wondering what was going on inside the group strolled up to the entrance.

"Step right up. The Doctor is in and ready to see his next victims, I mean patients. You four boys look like you could use a check-up."

"No thank you!" Ai said to the worker.

"Stop being chicken and get in there!" Rin demanded as pushed Ai through the entrance.

"What about you two? Don't be shy, come on in. Time to see the Doctor."

"Sorry we'll pass," Seijuro spoke up seeing Makoto had no intention of being inside the cramped horror house.

The man started to taunt the boys and try to force them inside. Mikoshiba knew he had to think up a good excuse fast to get the man off their backs.

"If you're looking for a law suit then by all means shove us inside. This guy can't handle strobe lights so unless you want to be the reason he has a seizure and dies in there and leave us alone."

The worker quickly apologized and let them stand off to the side of the building. He then ushered in other guests and locked them inside.

"Thanks for that Mikoshiba-san."

"No problem. I felt bad enough bringing you here I don't want to freak you out more than necessary. Rin would kill me."

Before Makoto could say anymore whatever was going on in the house had started. From outside they couldn't hear clearly what was going on. Some girl was screaming her head off rivaled only by Ai. Suddenly something neither Makoto nor Seijuro happened. They heard Rin scream. It was only a brief burst of sound but it was a scream nonetheless.

"Was that Rin?!" both boys chorused.

Right after that the doors opened and the people inside came out some practically falling out. Makoto asked what happened inside. Ai was too busy keeping his eyes closed and screaming to have seen or heard anything. Rin made up some excuse about being shoved into a sharp edged prop as to why he screamed rather than outright denying he had screamed at all. After Ai calmed down Rin asked where the entrance to the tour was so they could stay close by because it was nearing their timeslot.

"Continue down this road. Make a left after the Freak Show. It's right past the bon fire at the end of the Bar room building."

"Thanks."

Makoto stared at Rin, "Did he say Freak Show?"

"Yeah that was one of the other attractions listed on the flyer. Guys on stilts, contortionists, some guy covered in piercings, and a fire breather. Not any of the real crazy stuff."

"You heard the lady," Seijuro interjected, "past the freaks and on to the bonfire. Maybe you cider will be over there near the bar room Nitori."

"Cider! Cider!" Ai chanted happily, any trace of his earlier fright gone from his face.

As his Captain predicted the cider was over at the Bar room. There was also root beer, seltzer, coffee and hot chocolate to drink. For snacks there was crackers, pretzels, cookies, and packages with the ingredients for s'mores. Ai ordered hot cider, Rin and Seijuro both picked coffee, and Makoto opted for hot chocolate. All the boys chose s'mores and were told the sticks to the roast the marshmallows were on a table back behind the bonfire. Each boy selected a stick from the table that was as long as they could find. They didn't want to have to get close enough that the smoke could sting their eyes when the wind blew.

"There's old marshmallow stuck to the end of all of these sticks," Rin complained.

"That's not a problem Rin-chan. Before you put your marshmallow on, put the end of the stick into the fire and burn it off. It's OK if you burn a little bit off the end of the stick, it won't catch fire right away. And it's easier to get the marshmallow on once it's warm," Makoto explained.

Rin still grumbled a bit but did as Makoto said. Many people were gathered around the bonfire since it was the warmest spot on the property and it was becoming quite cold outside. Other people were roasting their own marshmallows while others listened to an older woman dressed in an 1800's outfit telling ghost stories. By the time the group finished their s'mores a man with a lantern walked past announcing the next tour was ready to depart.

"That's us guys," Seijuro called.


	4. On to the Tour

_Chapter 4: On to the Tour_

The boys moved through the crowd making their way to the booth where they had to turn in their passes. Their guide explained the rules, reiterating the need for patrons to keep their hands and feet to themselves. Again Rin teased his sempai about attacking the fake monsters. Mikoshiba jokingly teased back that maybe Rin should hold his dominant arm to keep him from attacking anyone. The shark boy went back with digs about how his Captain really only wanted someone to hold his hand because he was secretly scared.

While those two were fighting the tour had already begun. The guide spoke of a disease that was sweeping through the town and how the occupants of this house were hit hardest. Inside could be seen bodies laid out and covered with sheets while an actor dressed as a doctor was consulting with an undertaker. Then in the next house the group was told about how the woman of the house had just passed away in childbirth moments ago and her husband was mourning her death. As the people were led through the house the body of the wife was in plain sight and uncovered. A pool of blood was on a sheet spread out on the floor underneath her. The husband was next to the corpse holding her hand, an empty cradle rocking on its own just across the way. As Ai and Makoto passed by the room just behind Rin and Seijuro, a person dressed as the grim reaper rounded the corner and thrust his scythe out separating the two pairs. Those in the back jumped back in surprise and the ones in the front turned around and coached the frightened ones down the hallway.

Next up was the old one room school house. Everyone was ushered into the rows of seats to sit down. A tall man in a duster coat, typical of the old west came out from behind the teacher's desk and introduced himself. He began telling his story of his tragic past in the Western Territories where his family was ambushed by vengeful Native Americans. The storyteller went into detail of how each member of his family was slain. Outside the wind was howling and knocking loose twigs out of the trees causing them to fall onto the schoolhouse. Ai had become terrified that something was going to come and pound at the window. Since he was on the edge of the two-seater bench closest to the window he turned sideways in his seat so he could face the window and hopefully see the things as they approached. Problem was in that doing so his back pressed against Makoto and pushed him right to the other edge of the bench.

"Nitori-kun stop. I'm going to fall off the bench. Stop, stop it. Nitori-kun!" Makoto protested trying to keep his voice just above a whisper, but not hiding his worry.

Ai didn't hear Makoto because he was too busy studying what was outside the window. His words did catch the attention of Mikoshiba who turned to see what was going on beside him. Soon enough Makoto did fall right off the bench. He slipped off the edge and dropped to the floor, landing on the bag the boys brought with them, squishing it's contents. With his body at an odd angle before the fall, Makoto's head landed on the edge of Captain Mikoshiba's lap.

"Why hello there Tachibana. Enjoying the view down there?" Seijuro teased playfully.

Makoto blushed at the implication. "Excuse me. I didn't mean it. I just fell … uhh uhh"

"I know, I know. Ai knocked you to the ground. I'm just messing with you."

Rin had been so involved in listening to the story he hadn't even noticed what was going. Because of the tight space between the benches Makoto couldn't fully rise up and get back on his bench, not that he could anyway with Ai taking up the whole thing. Seijuro helped the other Captain adjust himself on the bag so as not to interrupt the story telling. He wouldn't have to sit there long because the story was nearing its end. The Iwatobi Captain convinced the Samezuka Captain to keep quiet about falling into the older teen's lap just as the story ended. Gesturing toward his head as he bowed, the storyteller removed his hat to show proof that he had been scalped and survived. Story over the tour group was instructed to file out of the schoolhouse.

"Mako why are you sitting on our bag?" Rin asked.

"Because Nitori is a bench hog" Seijuro explained.

Ai was still looking out the window. "Nothing came up to the window. I was sure something was. I'm what? Oh sorry Tachibana-san did I knock you off the bench?"

"It's fine. I landed on something soft," Makoto said then blushed brightly.

Rin and Ai couldn't think of why landing on their bag was blush worthy. Their Captain giggled but revealed nothing before helping Makoto to his feet. Both boys came to the same conclusion that they had missed something but didn't think any more of it.

From the schoolhouse the guide led them toward the church. When they arrived they could a loud argument coming from inside. Everyone stayed outside not sure whether this was part of the tour or not. Then a man dressed as a preacher stormed out dragging another man behind him. This man had a bag over his head and his arms bound behind his back like a prisoner.

"If you have anything to say to the Devil then speak now for soon I will be off to meet him!" the prisoner called out through the fabric over his head.

The preacher dragged him out past the crowd and around the side of the church building and continued on toward the back of it. Once they were out of sight the guide explained that up into the late 1800's there were still instances of people being tried as witches or devil worshippers. Also, contrary to popular belief the term witch was used for both females and males, and this particular man had been found guilty and was to be hung for his crimes. Then loud voices could be heard coming from behind the church and the guide instructed everyone to go there and bear witness to the hanging.

A makeshift hangman's platform was set up back there and a spotlight with a red filter was aimed at it. The preacher said a few more words before pulling the handle that caused the trapdoor to drop and the body to fall through it. Almost immediately the wicked man was proclaimed dead and the tour group was told to go on its way as there was nothing left to been seen there. Rin and Seijuro complained about how obviously fake the body was and how there was no way the man could be dead already because you couldn't hear the neck snap. Makoto was a bit concerned how the two would know the details of what happens to human body when it's executed by hanging. Ai was afraid he would be having nightmares about people's eyes popping out of their skull after he was told that was the reason for the bag over the criminal's head.

Some people just ahead of the teens found their very matter of fact discussions about how to improve the realness of a fake hanging very amusing.

Next on the tour was the cemetery. Inside the fence there was an open grave with a fresh pile of dirt and a coffin inside the hole. A man was there with a shovel filling in the grave and the sound of the dirt hitting the coffin could be heard in the still night. Slowly at first, then louder and louder, came a voice from inside the coffin calling for help. Rin had to restrain his Captain who for a moment had forgotten they were at a haunted attraction and the whole scenario wasn't real. Seijuro apologized for his lapse in judgment before following the tour on to its next location.

The dirt road leading from the cemetery brought them past the cider mill Nitori had spoken of earlier. Even though the building was closed the guide let people go toward the window to look in. A person popped out of the shadows and pressed his face against the window. People screamed and jumped back. Another person burst through the door and charged at the crowd with the first person close behind. Soon more actors emerged from the forest on both sides of the road and surrounded the tour urging them further down the path. In the confusion the guide had moved far down the path anticipating some of the crowd would bolt down the road. A scraping sound was heard coming from the rear of the group as the man from the cemetery closed in on the group, dragging his shovel across the rocks in the gutter.

Everyone moved closer to the guide who explained that the undead who were hounding them could not pass beyond the cross road he was standing at. With the tour group gathered beyond the border of the road they continued on their journey. There were only two houses left. Before entering the next house it was said that inside the owner of the house had called for a séance to be held so he could reach his dearly departed wife and they were to bear witness. At the dining room table sat the man, the medium, and another woman who was identified as the friend of the dead woman.

The medium called out to the spirit of the wife. She instructed the ghost to make herself known and for the subsequent questions she was asked to knock once for yes and twice for no. It was soon established that the woman had not passed peacefully and the reason why was because she was murdered. Every knock made Makoto and Ai jump or tremble in fear. Their friends kept reminding them there wasn't a ghost, just an actor in another room or a recording but it wasn't helping. Through more questioning the spirit confirmed the one who murdered was in the room. After messing with the audience a bit by accusing random members of the tour the medium finally asked if it was her friend who had committed the evil act.

A single knock confirmed the murderer's identity and the husband flew into a rage. He asked the woman how could she kill her best friend? Rin guessed the reason was she wanted to marry the man before the actress could say the line. Unable to comprehend all he had learned the man playing the role of the husband ordered everyone to leave him to mourn in private. Pushing and shoving toward the exit again separated Rin and Seijuro from Ai and Makoto. The Iwatobi Captain tried to spot them in the crowd and had stopped moving. Ai mumbled something behind he didn't quite register. Next thing he knows it there is the husband standing right next to him but staring at Ai looking angry. Before he could ask Ai what he could have said the man gets in Ai's face and bellows "GET OUT!" Ai squeaked and forced Makoto toward the door and out of the house where they found their friends waiting for them.

"You two need to stop getting so far away and what happened to Nitori?" Rin questioned, seeing Ai had gone pale.

"I'm not sure exactly but something he said got that actor really angry. These people take things a little too seriously for my tastes" Makoto explained.

Ai just nodded in agreement from his position cowering behind the taller boy.

Seijuro tried comforting his frightened teammate, "Well it's almost over. We're coming up on the last house right now. Then we can do some of the non-spooky things. That should make you feel better."

From the porch of the last stop of the night the guide gave a brief history of the Borden family, the occupants of the house. He knocked at the door and it was opened by the daughter of the owner, named Lizzie.

"Lizzie Borden? You've got to be kidding me …" Rin said.

"Are we supposed to know who that is?" Ai asked Makoto who shrugged noncommittally.

The woman brought them back to the kitchen to meet her friend who had just come to visit. This friend was shocked to see red stains on her friend's best apron and commented on how she was surprised her father and step mother had not woken up from all the noise now inside the house. Lizzie assured her the parents would not be woken up by the noise in their current state. Confused, the woman asked Lizzie to elaborate it. Her friend went on about how cruel and tight fisted with money her father was to everyone but her step mother and how not a soul in town would mourn their passing. She was bound to acquitted of everything, in her opinion.

"Lizzie what are you talking about? What have you done?" her friend pleaded.

"Go and see for yourself, all of you, go and see. They're right through there …" Lizzie spoke calmly pointing into the adjoin hallway.

"Lizzie no!" her friend called out before running out of the home.

Then the tour followed along the fleeing woman's trail to see the covered up body of her murdered father lying on the floor. Her stepmother was in a rocking chair, one arm weakly lifting up from under a blood smeared sheet, begging silently for help. As the group exited the house into the backyard a recording of people singing about the method of the murder could be heard drifting out over the fields.

At a certain point the tour guide stopped to make an announcement. "And that concludes our tour. I hope everyone enjoyed your visit here. From here you can follow the path through the trees on your left. This will lead you back to the activity area where you can enjoy a variety of activities. Have a good night and a safe trip home."


	5. Challenges

**In this chapter: With the tour over the boys get to check out the other available activities they missed out on earlier. Seijuuro gets his chance for lazer tag. Makoto learns something about Aiichirou he wasn't expecting.**

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><p>Chapter 5: Challenges<p>

The boys followed the group back to the area where they had been through the Pirate's Cove Maze earlier in the night. Since there weren't any children around anymore the staff gave what people were still hanging around at this hour permission to use the equipment otherwise normally reserved for children. A group of girls took this opportunity to climb into one of the two inflatable bouncers, the one shaped like a giant pumpkin. Seijuro looked over at the one shaped like an old stage coach.

"Anyone up for reliving our childhood?" he asked the group.

"Why not. It could be fun," Makoto stated.

"I'll pass Rin," commented.

"But sempai, this chance might not come up again and soon we would be too big to fit in there," Nitori complained.

"Don't care. Besides someone needs to watch the stuff."

"Forget him. Just leave him inside and come have fun with Tachibana and your Captain."

All three boys took off their shoes and left them with Rin and the bag and climbed inside. They noticed there were colored spots on the floor. The man in charge of the bouncer told them it was for playing the game twister and the spinner was attached to the outside wall. Rin got roped into calling out the colors and which foot or hand to put where so the others could play the game. After the other three managed to fall all over themselves they started wrestling and trying to knock each other over while bouncing. Soon the one left outside was getting bored and demanded the others grow up and come out of the thing. Makoto felt bad for leaving Rin outside alone for so long so he climbed up the wall that led to the slide which served as the exit.

When he got to the bottom of the slide he gazed up at the stars. He was involved in his star gazing, Makoto hadn't realized Seijuro was about to come down the slide. The Samezuka Captain was so busy telling Nitori to hurry up and follow him and he wasn't expecting anywhere to still be on the slide, he started to slide down without looking where he was going. Seijuro slammed into Makoto and because of the wall at the bottom and the whole thing being bouncy they ended up getting jackets and body parts all tangled up. Rin climbed up to the landing platform to help his friends. Meanwhile, a spider dropped down in front of Nitori scaring him and causing him to rush up the climbing wall.

"Nitori you fool wait!" Rin cried too late.

Ai was already too far over the edge to stop himself from going down the slide. All four boys ended up piled on top of each other and struggling to break free. The girls, who had by now finished in the pumpkin bouncer, were getting their shoes back on. Seeing the boys flailing around at the bottom of the stage coach bouncer's slide was hysterical and they couldn't help themselves from laughing at their misfortune. Once they could control themselves the girls went over and helped the boys separate. They probably could have managed on their own if Rin wasn't so busy trying to strangle Nitori while Makoto was trying to pull them apart and Seijuro was too busy yelling at the lot of them.

After the boys got over their embarrassment they figured a game of lazer tag would help them save face (and their manliness). Since most people were interested in dancing in front of the DJ booth the four boys got the lazer tag zone to themselves. It was Rin and Seijuro versus Makoto and Ai. The man in charge put the sensors that were more of a giant circular strap with a few lights on it, over each players head. Then he handed out the guns. Both Captains did rock-paper-scissors to decide which team would have to run over and start out at the far side of the field. Makoto lost so he and Nitori ran for cover behind the hay bales on the opposite end of the filed. The man started the countdown to the start of the match.

Fifteen minutes later the match was over. Seijuro and Rin had won. It wasn't surprising given Makoto and Ai had never worked together before and anything with an air of violence (real or imagined) wasn't their strong suit. Captain Mikoshiba had run around all over the place flushing his opponents out from their cover while Rin picked them off from a distance. Initial hits made the guns give off the warning 'medic, medic' to alert the player they were taking damage. "Man down, man down' signaled the loss of life. Each player was given 5 lives. After each 'death' the operator had to reactivate the sensors and a few second later an electronic voice would say 'ready to engage'. The sound effects were louder than Nitori or Makoto would have liked.

With the lazer tag game over the winners had decided that the losers should have to do something as punishment. It was agreed that Makoto and Ai would have to run through the Pirate Maze again. No one else was using it so they got the staffers to agree to let the boys run through while Rin and Seijuro timed them. The man at the gate signaled the start of time and let the two competitors in. All of the pirates were still there still trying to scare the runners. Seijuro got it into his head that he should cheer for Makoto since they were both Captain rank and Rin should cheer for Ai since he was Rin's roommate.

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, Makoto!" Seijuro cheered.

"Swim? Captain their running not swimming."

"So what, it's the only Iwatobi cheer I know. Beside it should be what he's used to hearing for encouragement. Come on, cheer for your roommate like you do at competitions," Seijuro ordered.

'I don't cheer for anyone at meets. I'm not even in the stands to do so,' Rin thought to himself. 'He should know that.' Rin did the Samezuka cheer anyway. He made a mental note to explain to the workers they are all on swim teams when this was all over so they don't think the boys are crazy.

This time Makoto went into too many dead ends and he was still winded from lazer tag. Ai beat him by a full five seconds. Both runners sat on some hay bales to take a rest. Captain Mikoshiba went over to join the people dancing as Rin spoke with the pirates from the maze. Soon Ai and Makoto joined Seijuro. Sometime later they wandered over back into the village so they could warm near the bon fire and to see the last performance by the fire breather before heading home.

On the way back to the ticket building Ai proclaimed "Tonight was awesome. Can we go somewhere like this again next weekend?"

"Nitori-kun are you the kind of person who enjoys being scared?" Makoto questioned.

"He definitely is," Rin confirmed. "He's always watching scary movies in our room, freaks out through the whole thing, and then watches another one."

"Speaking of scary movies did you guys know there was movie screening room in this building?" Seijuro asked.

Makoto and Rin looked at each other than at Mikoshiba. "There is?" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"Apparently," Seijuro pointed out while showing them the door none of them noticed on the way in.

"It was listed on the flyer," a security guard informed them. "All night streaming of the same movie. It's almost over now and this is the last run."

Ai complained about the missed opportunity. He glanced in and noticed it was one he hadn't seen before which made him more disappointed. Rin told him he knew the name of the movie and promised to help him find it later so he could watch it back at the Samezuka dorms.

Satisfied that he would eventually see the movie in order in its entirety, Ai followed the others to the bus stop. This time they were only people on the bus and for some reason the driver would take their fare. Happy to be saving some money the boys didn't complain and took their seats.


	6. Survived the Haunting

**_FINAL CHAPTER_**

**_In this chapter: The boys definitely chose the wrong bus home._**

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><p><em>Chapter 6: Survived the Haunting<em>

The first sign this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience should have been when the bus deviated from the normal route. It started to go down abandoned back roads none of them recognized. Then the roads they were taking had fewer and fewer streets lights. On top of that the driver was taking the turn hard and fast causing the boys to almost fall out of their seat. The driver then began speeding up to beat the red lights at intersections. When the bus just made it over the train tracks before the train pulled through and then immediately almost hit into the guard rail on an overpass Makoto was nearing wit's end.

He started recognizing where they were and decided here was a great to place to get off this crazy bus before something bad happened. He reached up and grabbed the pull cord that indicates a rider wants to depart. The bus screeched to a halt this time actually throwing them all out of their seats.

"Why did you do that Mako?" Rin whined.

"Why? Why? Because I want to get off this bus before the driver gets us all killed! You want to stay here fine but I'm getting off right now."

"I agree with him. This bus is scary," Nitori spoke as he got up to follow the older boy.

"Kid's got a point," Seijuro agreed, grabbing the bag and heading out.

Rin followed behind, grumbling the whole way about hitting his knee off a bus seat. When Rin got out the doors shut behind him.

"So what we do now genius?" Rin demanded of Makoto.

"I'm calling my dad to pick us up. Given the situation I'm sure he won't mind dropping you guys off at Samezuka if you don't mind squishing into the back."

"Uhh, guys? Where did the bus go?" Ai questioned nervously.

"It's not behind us?" Seijuro asked. "I didn't hear it start up again."

"What the … It really is gone!" Rin shouted into the night.

The bus might have been gone but there were skid marks leading further down the road. Against their better judgment the four teens followed the tracks. Two blocks later the skid pattern veered off the road and down the slope into the river. Grass was torn up and all along the path into the water.

"You don't think …" Makoto started.

"No it, couldn't be ….. could it?" Mikoshiba thought out loud.

"Don't any of you say it," Rin warned.

"We were on a phantom bus driven by a ghost!" Nitori shrieked in terror.

"You just had to say it!" Rin yelled hitting Nitori.

"What do we do?" Makoto asked Seijuro.

"Run seems like a good plan," the other Captain remarked.

The others agreed and ran for three blocks into they reached a well-lit area with an all-night convenience store. It was then Makoto carried out his original plan of calling his dad while they all tried to catch their breath. All of the boys were dead silent the whole way to Samezuka. Makoto's dad felt something might have happened but he didn't want to push them too soon or they may never reveal what was bothering him. Once it was only himself and his son he figured he might get some details but Makoto refused to speak about what had scared him so much.

~~~ Epilogue~~~

The next day in school, Nagisa and Rei told Makoto all about their outing since he wasn't particularly interested in talking about his own. The Iwatobi boys had gone with Gou and Miss Amata and Coach Sasabe to a harvest festival. They had painted little pumpkins, gone on a hay ride, played some games, tried all kinds of food, and watched different performers in short skits. Not a bit of it was scary.

"I can't believe this. You all had fun doing nice relaxing things while my night consisted of zombie pirates, a haunted ghost trail, being yelled at by lazer tag guns, and a fire breather blowing flames near face. Then ending the night almost murdered by a phantom bus driver!" Makoto fumed totally exasperated and angry at himself for missing a good time with his swim team over an ill-timed nap.

"You almost what?" Gou cried.

"Did you say phantom?" Rei queried in astonishment.

"You met a r-r-r-eal ghost Mako-chan?" Nagisa asked, a little shaken.

'Now I did it,' Makoto thought not wanting to explain the bus ride from hell to his friends.

Later that day the Samezuka boys went to check on Makoto only to be told he was at Haru's house. So they walked over and Rin knocked on Haru's door.

"What is Mako doing over here?" Rin demanded of Haru.

"My mom told me to come over here," Mako called from somewhere deeper in the house.

"Why's that?" Seijuro asked.

"Quarantine purposes. I actually did sick from falling asleep outside in the cold. Once your jacket is washed I'll bring it over to you at the next joint practice."

The boys moved toward the sound of the voice before Seijuro continued, "That sucks. Not exactly the best ending to our little adventure huh?"

Makoto stared at the other Captain in disbelief. "Adventure! You call that an adventure? It was a nightmare, an actual living nightmare!"

Haru put his hand on Makoto's shoulder in one of those 'there ,there', type of gestures of comfort.

"Can we just not talk about it right now?" Ai pleaded.

All of the boys (not including Haru) decided on three things right then and there.

One – no more public transit at night, ever.  
>Two – Deny everything that happened after they went to get on the bus. It must have been a mass hallucination.<br>Three – They were quite done with haunted anything and Halloween themed outings for a long time to come.

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><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I might rewrite this chapter since I rushed the ending. If I do I'll take this down & replace with the revised version.


End file.
